Sony ponders PS3 price cut

Hurry up, Howard

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The chairman and chief executive of Sony, Sir Howard Stringer, has said the company was attempting to "refine" how much it could afford to reduce the price of the PS3 console by, and has been quoted as saying there was "no question" consumers wanted the price to be lower. Duh.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Stringer admitted rival console the Nintendo Wii - which is far outselling the PS3 - was based on a good business model.

Sony fell short of its PS3 target in the 12 months to 31 March 2007 by 500,000 units. Market analysts are predicting the games division to incur a loss of around $488m in the current year, despite Sony's claim its has sold more than a million units in Europe and Australasia since the PS3's late March launch there.

Stringer said: "[Price cuts are] what we are studying at the moment. That's what we are trying to refine." He went on to say that he expected "energy [in PS3 sales] by Christmas, and then you will begin to see break-out games".

PS3 sales have been slow - to be honest, the world over - owing to its high price and slow, drip-feed supply of games, most of which have been PC game re-writes anyway. Apparently, the Japanese electronics giant has a target of shipping 11m console this year, and with production costs falling many believe Sony will cut prices by $100 before the crucial Christmas sales period.